John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 refer to the existing section 5 and amendment No. 5 proposes an insertion into the existing section 11. All the amendments are linked.

The first amendment proposes to expand the definition of a holding area officer to include a member in charge in a Garda station, with the second amendment providing a definition for member in charge. The subsequent amendment to the section dealing with the functions of the holding area officer is to allow for all members in charge to assume those powers and functions where a prisoner is transferred to temporary custody.

These changes are included to take account of the fact that, from time to time, prisoners may be brought to a local Garda station and held in custody there pending their court appearance. This tends to happen in particular in rural locations where no holding cells may be available in a small courthouse. This circumstance is given a legal basis in section 1 of the Prisons Act 1956. Once the prisoner is in the Garda station, as Senators will be aware, there is a designated member in charge in every Garda station. Under the 1987 Garda custody regulations, the member in charge has certain obligations and responsibilities for any person in custody in the station.

To distinguish between the existing role of a member in charge and that of a holding area officer I have proposed an amendment to section 11. When a prisoner, for the purposes outlined in section 7, that is, for temporary custody purposes facilitating attendance at court, is placed in a Garda station, the amendment confers on the designated member in charge the powers and functions of a holding area officer. The effect of this change ensures that within a Garda station, the member in charge will always have the duties and responsibilities of a holding area officer. It is important to say that this refers to within a station only, not outside of a station. When a member in charge is handing over his duties to another member in charge, for example, at the end of a shift, all his or her duties and responsibilities transfer automatically to the new member in charge. The amendment provides that his or her holding area officer responsibilities also transfer automatically. That will facilitate the day-to-day management of custody within Garda stations.

The amendment proposed will also allow a member in charge to delegate or transfer holding area officer duties and responsibilities to another garda. The reason this amendment is being proposed is twofold. In the first place, the member in charge, while having all the duties and responsibilities of a holding area officer, may not be the garda physically looking after the detention area. That would be the case, for example, in stations where a number of gardaí are on duty. In such circumstances it is important that the garda in the custody area be authorised to be a holding area officer.

Allowing the transfer of holding area officer powers from the member in charge to another garda is important for the management and smooth operation of the provisions of the Bill within a Garda station. A good example of that is where the member in charge is a male garda and the prisoner in temporary custody is female. In such a circumstance it would be appropriate to transfer holding area officer functions to a female garda for the purposes of a search. It should be noted that transferring holding area officer duties and responsibilities does not relieve the member in charge of those duties and responsibilities. The member in charge will always automatically have those duties and responsibilities when a prisoner is in his or her custody.

Within a station a number of gardaí may have holding area officer duties and responsibilities. Such responsibilities will always apply to the member in charge. They may also apply to the garda who is originally handed the prisoner under section 6, plus any garda to whom the member in charge may transfer or delegate the function. That only applies where the temporary custody provided for under section 7 is taking place within a Garda station.

It is worth stating that where the temporary transfer of custody of a prisoner for the purposes of a court appearance takes place outside of a Garda station, the garda taking temporary custody of a prisoner is the holding area officer. Under the Bill's provisions, that garda cannot transfer his or her holding area officer duties and responsibilities to another garda unless authorised to do so by a superior officer.

I consider this an important provision to retain because it should only be in limited circumstances where a garda will be taking temporary custody of a prisoner outside of a Garda station for the purposes of the Bill. Given that, I consider it appropriate that the transfer of holding area officer functions should only be permissible when authorised by a more senior officer. I believe the House will agree with me in this regard. I propose deleting the current definition of "holding area officer" and replacing it within a new definition which provides for a member in charge assuming the powers and functions of a holding area officer and the delegation or transfer of such powers. I am also defining for the sake of clarity who a member in charge is in the context of the Bill.